The penalty has been confirmed, for now by 10 positions for Charles Leclerc for the installation of a new combustion engine and turbo, although in the next few hours the penalty may be higher if Ferrari decides to change more element of the power unit that takes advantage of the fact that in Austin it can be reached. That sanction, along with Pérez’s notorious 5-place penalty, leaves Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in the fight for pole position in today’s F1 United States GP, waiting to see if Lewis Hamilton can join it. However, Max Verstappen was in charge of marking the territory in Texas before the fight for qualifying with the best time in Free Practice 3, showing great superiority after applying the set-up changes to his car correctly.
The Dutch driver starts as favorite to take pole position in Austin. He led Leclerc by 0″320, Sainz (3rd) by 0″446 and Pérez (4th) by 0″572 with Hamilton in fifth place at 0″576. Although the question is knowing how many saved favorites. And it is that the remarkable thing is that Verstappen was able to set the best time in his third attempt on soft rubber. Bad news for Ferrari, as Leclerc made it clear on the radio that the soft tire could not last more than one lap at the start of the session. However, Charles also managed to improve on his second attempt on the softs, even staying within three tenths of the Dutchman.
But Ferrari knows that what happens today is of little importance, because on Sunday the Red Bulls will be clear favorites for their better tire management. On a track where degradation is high and where the front tires suffer more from the links than those in Austin, the Ferrari seemed to lose it before the start. It would take a lot of change to surprise those in red. For now, Sainz will battle it out in qualifying today to make Verstappen suffer and look for his third pole position of the year. Something that seems very complicated. Max has grown up.
Alonzo, 6th
Behind Hamilton, who is relatively unknown, finished Fernando Alonso, who will also have a penalty of 5 places on the grid for changing the combustion engine. The Spaniard was 1″103 off Verstappen’s best time, and he was unable to keep his tire as he had to abort his first attempt in the final set of softs when he collided with Pérez in the middle of the line. The Apologized the Mexican: “Sorry. I came quickly and had nowhere to go.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
